Abstract
Targums are a kind of ancient Jewish translation literature that may have played an important role in synagogues, private devotion, and education. The reason scholars adduce such widespread use for the targums is because they translate the Hebrew Bible from Hebrew into Aramaic, another ancient Semitic language widely used by Palestinian and Babylonian Jews. Despite their supposed popularity, there are no sustained discussions in ancient Jewish literature concerning how to produce a targum, or what makes a quality targum. This is in direct contrast to some of the early theoretical discussions that informed ancient Christian translations of the Bible. Similarly, internal evidence from the targums suggests they underwent extended diachronic growth, thus eliminating the possibility of a single author, translator, or—as conventionally designated—targumist. As a result, theorizing the situation of a targumist is extremely difficult, in that to do so modern scholars must rely exclusively on the evidence presented by the targums themselves. Furthermore, the targumist must remain at the level of a hypothetical composite in order to reflect the historical realities of targumic production and development. Nevertheless, in this paper I will examine three issues that might give some insight into the situation of the Pentateuch Targums (targums to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible): 1) the targumic “shadow” of the Hebrew Bible; 2) the basic unit of meaning in the targums; and 3) the possible translational role of the targumic narrative expansion—extended portions of text that add new material to the Hebrew Bible narrative. By examining these issues I hope to tease out some of the translational dynamics and cross-cultural issues that likely influenced the production of the targums. And although the targumist must remain a hypothetical construct, the consistency of translational dynamics within the Pentateuch Targums probably reflects a tacit consensus of approach among the targums’ producers. As a result, it becomes possible to theorize in the absence of a theory.
Highlights
The Hebrew noun targum is often translated as ‚translation‛
The dynamic that governs the targumic translational technique is one of tension between the conservatism manifest by the one-to-one targumic shadow of the Hebrew Bible text and the concern for innovation and updating as manifest in the targumic narrative expansions and the coherence structures they create. These potentially conflicting dynamics within the targum texts embody in a very concrete way the tensions experienced by many translators both ancient and modern
To what extent should the target text represent even the syntax and phrasing of the source document? And to what extent should the source document be transformed into something that will be understandable and acceptable for the target audience? This dilemma is one that is unavoidable when discussing translation, since many translators see themselves as being between languages and cultures, striving somehow to mediate them
Summary
The Hebrew noun targum is often translated as ‚translation‛. Within the literature of early Judaism (c. 200-800 CE) targum can refer to the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, known as the Septuagint, the Aramaic (another Semitic language) portions of the Hebrew Bible, or a certain kind of Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible Http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/TC present in the targums that are absent from the Hebrew Bible By focusing on these three features it will become apparent that the Pentateuch Targums are engaged in a significant project of cultural appropriation, updating and transforming the biblical narratives for the sake of a post-biblical early Jewish audience. The Pentateuch Targums provide interesting examples of translation in an ancient context, insofar as they reinforce the problematic status of the term ‚translation‛ in modern translation studies literature. They demonstrate some of the cultural and counter-cultural aspects of translation that translation scholars are beginning to explore in a more deliberate and sustained way. Targumic literature may teach modern translation scholars much, both about the history of translation, and about some of the conceptual problems that attend translation in several different social and historical contexts
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